Schmaltz (rendered chicken fat)

Graisse de poulet (schmaltz)

What it is

Where religious law kept lard off the table and butter away from meat, rendered poultry fat was the one cooking fat admitted on both sides of an Ashkenazi kitchen; goose did the work until chicken became the cheaper bird in the twentieth century. The browned skin and onion left in the pan afterwards - gribenes - were the part people actually fought over.

In the kitchen

Render skin and fat from cold in a heavy pan with a splash of water and a sliced onion, on the lowest heat, about forty-five minutes. Lift the onion out while it is still amber: let it blacken and the whole jar tastes burnt.

Goes with

Onion Potato Chicken Chicken liver Egg Parsley Black pepper Rye flour

Same species

Egg white powder (albumin) Chicken tail (bonjiri) Bresse chicken Capon Chicken Rooster

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